Various methods and devices for reducing or eliminating sand and other particulate production from a formation during wellbore completion are known. Gravel packing of the formation is one such method and generally involves placing a sand screen around a section of the production string or tubing containing production inlets, with the section of the production string being aligned with wellbore perforations into adjacent formations. Gravel is then mixed with a viscous carrier fluid to form a gravel slurry and sent into intervals adjacent the formation. The gravel slurry deposits the gravel in the intervals, and the remaining carrier fluid is typically recirculated to the surface.
The formation of gravel bridges is a problem often associated with gravel packing. Gravel bridges form when the gravel slurry dehydrates, forming obstructions in the wellbore, which can cause voids to be created. This can be detrimental to the wellbore completion; however, the drawbacks of gravel bridges can be avoided in various ways, such as by including shunt tubes extending through the intervals in the wellbore completion.
The shunt tubes can provide an alternative flow path around any gravel bridges and can connect together via conduits disposed through a wellbore packer, creating a flow path between adjacent, but separated, intervals. However, after gravel packing is complete, the shunt tubes may remain in communication with multiple intervals in the wellbore, which may allow undesired commingling of formation fluids between the intervals. Various methods and systems have been employed to reduce the particulate communication between intervals during production, but there is still a need for an effective sealable fluid barrier that isolates adjacent intervals, despite the presence of shunt tubes.